Thinking About Lambs, Whose Culture Was Joyous And Loud And Vibrant. Lambs Who Had A Dance For Everything

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Dungeons and Dragons - Fandom, Fantasy - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Summary:

Travelers may often find themselves in strange places, and places may often find themselves with strange travelers. This story is the latter.

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

I had always thought "The Rehabilitation of Death" referred to Narinder, but I'm realizing it very much applies to Lambert as well. Both those fuckers need so much help.

Lambert has near perfected the art of facade. That sheep is fucked up

A few reference sketches I've done for a potential cotl AU. We will see if anything comes of it, but these will probably change drastically if I continue to draw them. Still, it's neat and I put more work into it than I probably should have.

Cotl outfit ideas: Lamb inspo

Images sourced from pinterest

Tired creature.

Do you have any advice for a character who has a sort of sacrificial lamb complex? A savior complex but not as in a hero to save the day, but as in they don't believe they deserve to save themselves?

How to Write a Sacrificial Character

Backstory and Motivation

Traumatic Past: Explore the character’s history. Perhaps they’ve experienced abandonment, betrayal, or loss, leading them to internalize the belief that their worth is tied to suffering for others.

Family Expectations: They may come from a family that emphasizes self-sacrifice or has a history of martyrdom, teaching them that their own needs are secondary to others.

Guilt and Responsibility: The character might feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for past failures, believing that they owe it to others to endure hardship or take on burdens.

Internal Conflict

Self-Worth Issues: Illustrate their struggle with self-worth. They might dismiss compliments or feel undeserving of happiness, using phrases like “I don’t deserve this” or “I have to earn my place.”

Desire for Connection: While they may push others away, they also yearn for connection and love, creating an internal tug-of-war between wanting to be saved and believing they are unworthy of it.

Sacrificial Actions

Small Acts of Sacrifice: Show them making small sacrifices for friends or loved ones, like skipping meals or taking on additional work, which reinforces their belief that they should suffer for others’ well-being.

Dramatic Moments: Create pivotal scenes where they are put in a position to sacrifice themselves for someone else—physically or emotionally. This can highlight their motivations and lead to significant character development.

Interactions with Others

Supportive Characters: Introduce characters who try to save or help them, but the sacrificial character resists, believing their problems aren’t worth the effort. This can create tension and deepen their internal struggle.

Small Acts of Kindness: Have moments where others go out of their way to help them, reinforcing that they are worthy of care and support. This can include simple gestures, affirmations, or sacrifices made on their behalf.

Conflict with a Mentor or Friend: A mentor figure might challenge this belief, encouraging them to see their value and fight for themselves, leading to moments of growth and resistance.

Gradual Change

Moments of Clarity: Show them having fleeting moments of realization where they understand their self-worth, possibly triggered by a significant event or dialogue with another character.

Catalyst for Change: Introduce a scenario where they must choose between self-sacrifice and self-preservation, forcing them to confront their beliefs head-on.

Life-Altering Experience: Put the character in a situation that forces them to confront their fears, such as a near-death experience or a pivotal choice between saving themselves or others. This moment can act as a wake-up call to their worth.

Acts of Courage: Have them step up in a crisis, leading to a moment where they save someone else and realize their capability and value. This can help them see that they have something to offer.

Turning Point: Create a climactic moment where the character realizes they deserve to save themselves, possibly triggered by witnessing someone else sacrifice themselves for them, prompting a realization of their worth.

Final Confrontation: In the final confrontation (with a villain or personal demon), let them stand up for themselves, verbalizing their worth and challenging the beliefs that have held them back.

Symbolism and Themes

Recurring Motifs: Use symbols that represent sacrifice and self-worth, like broken mirrors (self-perception) or shadows (their past). These can help reinforce their internal struggles visually throughout the narrative.

Redemption Arc: If they ultimately find a way to save themselves or allow others to save them, showcase this as a powerful moment of growth, suggesting that self-worth and love are intertwined.

Emotional Depth

Show Vulnerability: Allow the character to express their fears and doubts, whether through dialogue, journaling, or introspection, making their internal battles relatable and poignant.

Balance with Humor: If appropriate for your story, consider moments of humor or lightness to juxtapose their darker thoughts, showing that they are more than their complex.

Can you draw Leshy trying to convince Lamb and Narinder to go to couples therapy?

i love leshy, he has many secrets. not sure if he's very successful in convincing them so much as outright forcing them?

i don't think he uses his perceptions kindly though. but given that his providence was chaos it would've been important for him to immediately read everyone. the others would've likely been fine at it for like.... other gods, but leshy i assume does this to everyone just to fuck with them

i did also eventually settle on what it was that leshy traded with the mystic seller as the last trade any of the bishops did

If Marshal Hamal carries a six shooter, does that make it the Colt Of The Lamb?

It sure does.

I need to find a way to work this pun into the fic lol

What makes me angry about the whole "sometimes the curtains are just blue" thing is the abject unwillingness to engage in the media, instead just rephrasing known information in the form of an answer that doesn't dig any deeper. There was a conscious choice to describe the curtains as blue; to even describe it in the first place, and that has at least some small amount of significance.

An example of what I mean that comes to mind is Brian Jacques and his Redwall series of books. He would often give in-depth descriptions of food and meals eaten by the characters. Now, I could ask, "Why did he describe the oat cakes as sweet and crumbly?" you could say "Because they just are. That's what oat cakes are."

You would be correct. They are just oat cakes. This is just a small insignificant detail. The author only included it because he thought it was a nice little detail and, if it were removed, it would have no effect on the story as a whole. There isn't some big metaphor behind them, they are just sweet treats, but by dismissing the question, you miss out on so much.

"Why did he describe the oat cakes as sweet and crumbly?" Maybe because he wanted to demonstrate that the character was a competent cook. Maybe because he wrote his books for children in a school for the blind in Liverpool, and this is an example of the wealth of sensory details he uses to make the world feel vibrant and beautiful and help his readers feel like they were a part of it. Maybe because he was a massive goddamn foodie and always found himself wondering what it was the characters ate when a story simply said "and then they had dinner". Maybe because he takes joy in the fact that I always walk away from his books feeling hungry.

"Sometimes the curtains are just blue". Well, maybe they're blue because the author has some fuckin style.

That “the curtains are just blue” post remains the bane of my existence.

What your teachers were trying to do was make you think. About the story, the writer, and all the whys that come with literary analysis. Why did THIS writer at THIS time choose to write THIS SPECIFIC STORY and make THESE curtains blue?

There usually isn’t even a singular answer— the point isn’t to be correct, the point is to analyze it from all angles.

The great thing about writing is that no two people write the same. Writing is about your unique perspective. You could stick two writers in the same room and command them to write a story set in that room— and get wildly different depictions of the same space. One writer may describe the furniture in detail, while another fixates on the color of the walls or the detailed crown molding.

Neither writer is incorrect— but what they notice about the space and choose to focus on in their story is what is interesting. It gives you a glimpse at how this specific writer perceives and makes sense of the world. WHY does this writer focus on the room’s structural features? What does that say about them? WHY does this writer focus on the furnishings? What does that say about THEM?

It is about learning to engage with writing, and the person who wrote it, on a deeper level. Only George Orwell could’ve written 1984, only Toni Morrison could’ve written Beloved.

Now look at the curtains and tell me why that is.